FedEx building $5.2 million facility in Tonawanda

Project will consolidate firm’s sites, add 82 jobs

FedEx Trade Networks Transport and Brokerage will invest $5.2 million in a new facility in the Town of Tonawanda that is expected to create 82 jobs, state economic development officials said.

FedEx already has office and distribution centers in Tonawanda, and it will consolidate them at Riverview Solar Technology Park, off River Road north of the Grand Island bridges. Construction of the 88,000-square-foot facility is expected to begin May 1 and be completed in the first quarter of 2014.

The state, through Empire State Development, will provide $2.56 million in Excelsior tax credits. The project is also expected to seek tax breaks from the Erie County Industrial Development Agency, which is expected to vote on them at its April 22 meeting.

FedEx Trade Networks Transport and Brokerage has 926 employees in the region, many of whom are expected to relocate to the Riverview site, according to Buffalo Niagara Enterprise, the business recruitment organization that helped secure the project.

A source familiar with the project who asked not to be identified said the FedEx project at Riverview could eventually grow even larger, with the potential for an addition to the new building and possibly two more buildings in the future.

Even though the facility is moving within Tonawanda, Tom Kucharski, Buffalo Niagara Enterprise’s chief executive officer, said incentives were necessary to secure the project because other places where FedEx has a presence, including Memphis, Tenn., and Indianapolis, were believed to be in the running.

“They’re adding new jobs, and they’re a global leader,” Kucharski said. “They are a very important part of the logistics industry sector we’re focused on.”

The project is a significant addition for TM Montante’s 185-acre Riverview business park, which has billed itself as a location with ample green space and supported by solar power. TM Montante will build a 100-kilowatt solar array that will be integrated into the design of the Fed- Ex building, state officials said. TM Montante representatives could not be reached to comment Friday.